Predicament Bondage by Slade
You’ll be familiar with the saying “choosing between a rock and a hard place”. Predicament bondage is an evil game that leaves the bottom with (usually) two choices, which they’re forced to choose between. Both choices have unpleasant outcomes, but there’s no way out. They have to choose option A or option B, or switch back and forth between the two.The most common form of predicament bondage is a choice between muscle strain and some kind of pain involving sensitive parts of the body (by which I mean nipples and genitals), but if you are truly twisted you may be able to come up with other imaginative dilemmas. Obviously predicament bondage involves bondage, but there tends to be a strong element of sadomasochism in it too. Whatever the choices made, there’s usually some pain involved.

Impact Play 101 by TJ Howard
Impact play can range for playful slaps and pressure play to erotic floggings, spanking, punching. It can be a tool in various different scenes or a scene unto itself. Impact Play 101 will work to show the safety parameters for RACK based impact play along with how to work it into some scenes. We will cover most of the basic tools and allow participants to use the tools themselves on willing partners. This class is open to everyone regardless of gender expression, sex, and sexual orientation.

Pup/Trainer

Puppy 204: Fostering Inclusion in the Pup Community by Sir Nate
This class focuses on awareness of diversity in the pup community and providing strategies for inclusion. We will highlight tips on sharing space, reaching out to underrepresented groups, physical barriers to inclusion, event planning, and more! We will also discuss how to navigate feeling left out and engage in constructive self-advocacy. This class will be a discussion format class and we highly encourage attendee participation.

Puppy 242: Collaring and Pack Dynamics by Sir Nate
This is a class for those interested in learning more about the process of collaring and being part of a pack. We will discuss how the process varies and the importance of communicating expectations between all parties involved in the process. We will also delve into puppy family structure, the intersectionality of packs and leather families, and strategies for dealing with conflict and changes in personal situations. This class will be a discussion format class and we highly encourage attendee participation.

Illinois Leather Alliance is pleased to announce the addition of the Illinois Person of Leather title to their contest night, on March 17th, 2018.

“Many of our titles are very specific in their requirements based on gender, sexuality or relationship mode.” said Michael Shorten, Executive Producer of ILA. “We have been looking for an opportunity to give to leather folks in our community who may not fit those specific titles, but feel called to be a titleholder.”

The Illinois Person of Leather contest is open to anyone of the leather community, no matter gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. The Person of Leather title focuses on what it means to be a member of a diverse Leather community, rather than focusing on one specific segment. It allows the titleholder to get involved in the way that they are called. It provides a huge opportunity for people who might not qualify for a focused title, but they feel that they have something to do or say within the leather community.

The person awarded the Illinois Person of Leather title has an opportunity to compete at the Great Lakes Person of Leather contest, which was recently announced as part of the Great Lakes Leather Alliance weekend in 2018. From GLLA, the Great Lakes Person of Leather can compete at the International Person of Leather contest, held at the “Sin in the City” event in Las Vegas, in February.

The Illinois Leather Contest weekend will start with a Meet & Greet on Friday, March 16th at 10pm at it’s traditional location – Touché – known as “Chicago’s Leather Bar Since 1977.” The Contest will continue on Saturday, March 17th, with interviews at Touché starting at noon – open to the public. Demos will be held throughout the day as well. In the evening, the formal contest will be held, including speeches, fantasies and entertainment. For more information on the weekend, visit the ILA Facebook page or Website.

Illinois Leather Alliance is pleased to announce that the Chicago Hellfire Club has sponsored the cost of the Leather Archives & Musuem (LA&M) as the venue for the Illinois Leather Contest night, on March 18th, 2017.

“We are very grateful that the Hellfire Club is willing to support local contests and we’re very happy to start a relationship with an icon of the Chicago and worldwide leather community.” said Michael Shorten, Executive Producer of ILA. “Because of their generosity and support, we can continue to offer the contest for free at the LA&M, so that everyone from our leather, kink and fetish communities can come celebrate with us.”

The Illinois Leather Contest provides titles for for Illinois Leather Sir, Illinois Leather boy, Illinois Ms. Leather Pride, Illinois Bootblack, Illinois Master/slave and Illinois Puppy/Trainer. Many of the contests are feeders into the Great Lakes regional contests, held during Great Lakes Leather Alliance (GLLA) Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana. From GLLA, winners compete in International contests for their title.

The Illinois Leather Contest weekend will start with a Meet & Greet on Friday, March 17th at 10pm at it’s traditional location – Touché – known as “Chicago’s Leather Bar Since 1977.” The Contest will continue on Saturday with interviews at Touché starting at noon – open to the public. Demos will be held throughout the day as well. For more information on the weekend, visit the ILA Facebook page or Website, which will have the latest information and schedule up shortly.

And to our wonderful Judges, staff and volunteers, and to our Directors Sir Justin and Tork, thank you for what you do. This was your night as much as the contestants. You did this! And we are so grateful.

All that we’ve been working towards starts tonight! The fun will start tonight after 9:30 at Touché Chicago – hot contestants, great MC, auction items you don’t want to miss and a whole of hot and sexy leather people! You have to be there!

One other note: Our MC for this weekend, Karen Ultra, will unfortunately not be able to join us. We want to wish our Leather Aunt to Get Well Soon! We love you and want you around a long time to give us hell! We are VERY THRILLED to announce that someone wonderful has stepped up to the podium to help us in our inaugural ILA event… International Mr. Leather 2012 – Woody Woodruff! Thank you Woody!

We can’t believe it! Only 3 more days till our inaugural event! So let’s meet our HOT contestants! Check back this week as we reveal additional contestants!

IL SIR CONTESTANTS

Sir Tom

Tom Wray is 41 years old and lives in Chicago with his husband of 9 years, Jeff Woods. By day he works in content development. By night, he covers kink and leather events for the Great Lakes Den and Windy City Banner.

His fetishes include fisting, paddling, puppy play, CBT, cigars, bondage and torturing with pleasure. He is usually top but has been known to put his legs in the air on occasion. He is also a TV, movie and book science fiction geek and has been known to identify musicals within the first four notes.

Sir Shadi

A relative newcomer to the scene, Shadi Beidas, 34, has held an interest in leather for the bulk of his adult life. He entered the formal scene in 2015 with a run for Mr. Chicago Leather. A goofball of sorts, he flexes his virtual intellectual muscles far more often than his actual biceps.

Volunteering in establishing gay social activities in the western suburbs has become a passion of his as of late, and you can also find him kicking his heels up with the ChiTown Squares.

IL MS LEATHER PRIDE CONTESTANTS

Sarah Sloane

Sarah Sloane is a leatherwoman from Chicago, IL. She has been active in the Leather and BDSM communities since 1998, and has been honored to serve as an organizer, volunteer, and educator throughout the years. She also writes and speaks on sexuality, gender, and pleasure to a diverse range of organizations, institutions, and events.

When not rabble-rousing, she knits, lifts weights, reads voraciously, and plays as much as she can get away with. She shares her life with her leather family, her boy, her other partners, and her teddy bear, Stuart.

IL PUPPY

Pup Scout

Pup Scout is an active member of the Chicago, regional and national puppy and handler community. Identifying as a Husky and an Alpha pup, Pup Scout gets much satisfaction from nurturing and helping other pups and trainers.

He is co-founder of the Inter-Fetish Coalition of Suicide Prevention and Awareness (IFCSPA) and has spoken in many venues and online forums about suicide prevention, including the Jackhammer Complex, Cellblock Chicago and ABDL Cams as a moderator. Pup Scout is the 2014 holder of International Best in Show (Bill “Trooper” Boyd memorial award) from the International Puppy Club. He loves playing video games and practices Krav Maga.

IL TRAINER

Sir Kristoff

Sir Kristoff is first generation Polish descent born and raised in Chicago, fluent in Polish. He has a bachelors in art history and religion, and is currently in grad school for software engineering. He works as a freelance designer and during his free time he explores his kinky side

As a handler, he enjoys offering attention, compassion, and obedience with pup training. His goal, should he win the title, is to be a positive influence to those he trains and create a healthy environment for future trainers and pup/dogs.

On behalf of all of us at the Illinois Leather Alliance, we want to send out a big THANK YOU so much for coming out last night, having a ton of fun and celebrating 2016 kicking off in fine fashion. With your support, we raised over $500 for the TV raffle, jello shots and bootblacking. All that money immediately goes to making some great patches and sashes for the first ILA contest weekend in March and getting us ready for a great contest!

Thank you to David and everyone at Touché Chicago and to the Chicago Band of Brothers for their support and help in making this night happen. We are so grateful.

On Jan 10th, join us at Touché Chicago for a “So You Want to be a Titleholder” panel discussion with other Mr. Chicago Leather and Illinois Leather titleholders. Details can be found here.

The producers of ILA have been working hard this autumn and we have lots of exciting news to share with you today!

First exciting news, ILA is thrilled to announce that due to the generous sponsorship from the wonderful Karen Ultra-domme, ILA will be having our main contest night at the Leather Archives & Museum. Karen Ultra-domme has also agreed to being roped into our M/C for the weekend, bringing her brand of wit, comedy and leather service to our stage, as well as her FABULOUS outfits.

Second bit of excitement is ILA is also pleased to announce that Sir Justin and Justin/Pup Tork have agreed to become the directors of the Puppy/Trainer contests during the ILA Illinois Leather contests. ILA is thrilled to have two wonderful men who’ve been such great representatives of the International, regional and local pup/trainer community. I can’t wait to see what they will come up with for our March contest weekend!

Save the date ! Illinois Leather Alliance contest weekend is on March 18th and 19th. Meet/Greet will be on Friday at Touché Chicago and the Contest Night will be held at the Leather Archives & Museum on Saturday night!

We are thrilled to have such a wonderful panel of judges, who are all state and regional titleholders in the Great Lakes, as well as being very active in the Great Lakes leather community.

We are also very excited to announce the MC of our contest is none other than the fabulous Karen Ultra-Domme! Karen will be joining us to light up the stage and entertain us with her flair, wit and charm like nobody else can!

Come join us on March 18th and 19th at Touché Chicago where we’re bringing sexy and fun back to the stage to see who will represent Illinois and Leather for the year! If you want to step up and shine, if you want to have the opportunity for a life-changing experience, we want you as a contestant! Information on the contest and weekend can be found at our website at http://www.illinoisleatheralliance.com.

Michael and Angie Shorten, International Master/slave 2014, are pleased to announce that they have formed the Illinois Leather Alliance to produce the Illinois Leather titles contest, starting in 2016. The contest will be held on March 18th and 19th, 2016 at it’s traditional location – Touché – known as “Chicago’s Leather Bar Since 1977.”

“We are really honored to be taking on this huge responsibility.” said Master Michael. “We started our titleholding as Illinois Master and slave 2013. This is our home and our roots.”

Michael and Angie will be producing contests for Illinois Leather Sir, Illinois Leather boy, Illinois Ms. Leather Pride, Illinois Bootblack, Illinois Master/slave and Illinois Puppy/Trainer. Many of the contests are feeders into the Great Lakes regional contests, held during Great Lakes Leather Alliance (GLLA) Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana. From GLLA, winners compete in International contests for their title.

Michael and Angie have accepted the role of producers after the resignation of Master Bear Abbott and Ron Billiman, who co-produced the Illinois titles from 2011 through 2015.

“We want to thank Master Bear and Ron for their contributions to the titles and contest and we hope we will make them, our wonderful state and our Great Lakes region proud.” said slave Angie. “It’s time to roll up our sleeves, get to work and produce a great contest. We hope we’ll see everyone come to Chicago in March to get their sexy on and have some fun!”